In September, I was invited to teach for 2 days at the Learn Your Long Arm Event at the BERNINA Canada office  in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. In attendance were individual Q Series owners from Quebec, BC & Ontario, consumers and dealers.  It was a very successful event with BERNINA QMatic training added on the 3rd day. The QMatic day 3 was taught by Adrienne, the Senior Educator for BERNINA Canada. In addition, Deb (also a BERNINA Canada Educator) was on hand to coordinate the event & provide lots of support to attendees & myself. There was an abundance of great discussion, questions and creativity to share around and so much fun.

                                     Talking & instructing (me in blue) with the wonderful attendees

                                                                 BERNINA Q24, one of the Q Series Machines

                                                                                         Q20 Installed in a Table

Why is learning about your BERNINA important?

Whether you’re a newby to your machine or you’ve been stitching away with your machine for a while, learning more about your machine can mean:

• saving time
• saving money (if you are in the sewing industry, time is money)
• having more fun
• getting better results
• beneficial social results (that come with being around other fellow BERNINA owners)
• being inspired by other’s creativity
• reduced anxiety about machine functions
• improved machine maintenance 
• more knowledge 
• greater use of more machine features
• increased brand loyalty & excitement about our quality BERNINA machines

I could go on and on about the benefits of education as a BERNINA instructor.  The participants who attended were so excited that this educational series was available to them.  

Based on the feedback during and after the event, it is very apparent that learning about your machine is vital.   In addition, most attendees said they could not wait to get home and work on their machines as they felt inspired.  Participants also stated that they felt so much more confident now armed with new knowledge and that they could now realize more creative opportunities.

Some photos to share:

The first morning was about practical topics, essential maintenance, software knowledge, loading & basting a quilt & mechanicals.  On the second morning we discussed the business of long arm quilting & tips to make quilting on a sit down & frame model easier. 

        Talking about maintenance, software knowledge & mechanicals

In the afternoons we tried many different creative techniques including ruler work, pantograph (edge to edge quilting), trapunto, thread painting, free motion organic designs, couching, channel lock quilting and so much more!

                                    Photos of participants in action, learning and practising

                             Adrienne, teaching QMatic with humour & enthusiasm 

We closed out the first 2 days with a Rapid Fire Thread Painting competition where 5 participants where performed a timed thread painting session on a frame Q Series machine and another team of 5 worked on a sit down QSeries.  We  were fortunate to have a support team to change bobbins & rethread and a time keeper.  The leaf shown above was the result of the winning team, team sit down, some gorgeous work. Team frame also had a stellar result of course. 

To see more photos and information, check out my blog post all about this event here. Lot’s of cheers, lots of laughter and a real positive way to end the 2 days.

 We proved it …BERNINA Long Arms have very practical uses & you can quilt your quilts with ease, however they also have a plethora of more creative uses as well.

Special Thanks to all who attended and to the wonderful BERNINA Canada Educators.

Learning Resources for You:

If you want to learn more about your machine so that you can grasp it’s fantastic potential, I have several suggestions:

• Ask your dealer about training, the introductory class & ongoing classes they may offer
• Download and read the Mastery Series Workbook for your machine, click here to find and download your workbook 
• Keep your manual handy at all times
• Use your on screen tools including help & the creative consultant
• Attend education events if they are available near you, they’re worth it, you may see them listed on Facebook or other social media platforms, be in the know , save the date & register
• Attend free educational webinars click here for more information
• Check out my website here to see what tutorials I may have that will interest you. My projects are always involving BERNINA sewing machines.
• If you are in Ontario, Canada I will have information about education events posted.
• My Learn Your  BERNINA Q Series Long Arm Class is shown on my teaching page
•  Look no further than right here at www.blog.bernina.com/en  and also the US blog at weallsew.com, you’ll find daily inspiration and instruction

 Learning  About Your BERNINA= Happy Sewing!